Child of Destiny
by Tyler Marcoz
Summary: Prophecy is a dangerous thing, and destiny is fragile. They can shape our expectations for the course of history, expectations easily shattered in the storm of time. Some become self-fulfilling, and some destinies truly are set. They may not always manifest in the way we imagined, and the results can have grave effects on the course of the world, and bonds be twisted to dark ends.
1. Prologue

_Naruto, and it's characters, and it's story, and everything else is © Masashi Kishimoto._

**Child of Destiny  
><strong>_Prophecy is a dangerous thing, and destiny is fragile. They can shape our expectations for the course of history, expectations easily shattered in the whirlwind of time. Some prophecies become self-fulfilling, and some destinies truly are set. However, they may not always manifest in the way we imagined, and the results can have dramatic effects on the course of the world._

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><p><em><strong>Prologue<strong>_

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><p>The room was vast, an expanse in the eternity. They were young, yet their souls burned bright.<p>

Naruto Uzumaki stood across from Sasuke Uchiha. The world grew around him.

Sasuke Uchiha stood across from Naruto Uzumaki. The world orbited his will.

The pair locked eyes, Naruto's blue matching the spinning tomoe of Sasuke's red.

They stared for a moment, then grined. As one, they extended their arms and touched fists.

* * *

><p>Naruto stared down at the corpse of his erstwhile rival as a chaotic storm of emotions ran through his young mind. Disbelief; Sasuke could not be dead, not here, not like this. Sadness; how could someone leave him, how could someone abandon him like this? Anger; the bastard who did this had no right, and had taken something from Naruto right after he'd finally begun to grasp it. And finally, there was rage. There where no words for the rage, just a searing whiteness that ran through his body, renewing it with foul vigor. He felt something awaken inside of him, a strange clarity, followed by red-hot malice.<p>

When Naruto had snuck into the sphere in hopes of 'rescuing' his companion, he had not had the least idea it could end like this. The concept that one of them could be killed was simply alien to him, despite the years of schooling that should have prepared him for such an eventuality; all shinobi faced death, such was their lot in life, but Naruto, like so many before him, had not realized the truth of it until faced with the cold, harsh reality for himself. For most junior shinobi, this was a time of emotion, but fundamentally a necessary step in their careers.

Unfortunately, Naruto was not most junior shinobi, and in more ways than one. As the floodgates opened, the pain of losing the first comrade let loose a storm of power that was unique to only nine extant individuals in the world. A gift and curse in equal measure, Naruto had something else that marked him as different from even those other eight, something that would change history with one almighty push. He threw his head up and let out a terrifying bellow.

Haku seemed aware of the magnitude of his mistake the moment that Naruto began to change. The air around him seemed to sizzle as visible red chakra began to bleed from the young blond's body, swirling around him in a spiral pattern. Haku was about to act, to do something, anything really, when the dome of shining glass mirrors exploded outward with an amazing force. Haku felt terror at first, followed by blackness, as he was sent sailing off the bridge and into the unknown.

He was not the only thing cast asunder by the blast. Massive chunks of the bridge disappeared beneath Naruto, leaving an almost queer pedestal where the boy, now long in the fang and claw, and his dead companion were left, surrounded by a crater of impossibly smooth stone. The wave of force echoed out farther, however, creating a windstorm that swept away the mist that had bedeviled the Konoha-nin. As it did, Kakashi could see quite clearly once more, but he did not like what he could see.

The swirl of chakra had died down, though Naruto's feral and bestial features remained. However, there was one feature in particular that shocked his sensei, and Zabuza as well, as they watched him look around, as if looking for new prey. As Naruto's eyes settled on something, Kakashi knew that things were about to go from bad to worse. Kakashi turned, and then he scowled.

Gatō led the pack. It was a veritable army of mercenaries, thugs, and various ronin who'd thrown their lot in with the aspiring tyrant. He had little idea of what he was walking into as he approached. Truthfully, neither did Kakashi, but he knew it wasn't good. He'd heard stories, but he'd never expected to see it, and certainly not like this. For not only had Naruto unleashed the power of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, he'd also unleashed a power potentially even more deadly than that. A legend. A myth.

Naruto stared down Gatō with eyes full of malice and anger. He stared, and Gatō found himself looking back into eyes with concentric black rings in a field of lavender.

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><p>Sasuke hurt. A lot. It was, in recent memory, the most pain he'd ever woken up in, rivaled by the time he'd spent two days straight training in the woods and then collapsed from chakra exhaustion, waking up to find his neck, arms, legs, and just about every other part of him both stiff and sore to the extreme, though the pain was yet dwarfed by the eldest of the times he'd woken up in confusion and pain. He made a mental note that it was perhaps time to stop waking up like that; it wasn't turning out good for him ever, really, and he really didn't like the pain. Yes, definitely time to consider not doing that.<p>

He felt heavier too, as if he'd almost doubled his weight really. Try as he might, Sasuke just couldn't manage to push himself up. Also, he couldn't see. Maybe he should open his eyes. Yeah, opening his eyes helped, even if the light seared his unadjusted pupils. He felt something strike his cheek, and realized that it was not the first; much of his face was dotted with wet droplets. Well, that made sense, given Sakura was hunched over him crying. That fact seemed to snap Sasuke into a sort of raw focus once more.

"Sakura," he managed to grunt out, causing the girl to seize up in confusion, "Can you let go, you're heavy. "

She stared at him with a bizarre expression before dragging him even closer, causing him to wince in pain. He did not cry out, as that would have taken far too much energy, something he simply didn't have at the moment. Feeling continued to spread through his body, but he dared not risk trying to move anything of note just yet. Finally, apparently realizing what she was doing, she let him down, sending him flopping back to the hard surface he was laying on. He grunted again in pain.

"S-sorry! Sorry!" she stammered out, picking him up once more, gentler this time. He just grunted again in response, not wanting to exert much more energy on such a trivial thing. Then again, just about everything seemed so trivial right now.

"Stop crying," he said suddenly after a moment of awkward silence, "The red makes your eyes look weird."

Sakura froze up again, staring down at the boy she so often claimed to love and adore. The words seemed so... odd coming from him. They were so close to a compliment, yet she found that him actually saying such a thing was simply bizarre to her. She began to laugh, a harsh rasping laugh that was as much crying as it was humor.

Sasuke, for his part, simply grunted again, trying to run through his head what had just happened. He felt something, though, deep inside of him. A strange vitality that seems to push through the pain. A fire, just embers really. Yet when he focused on it, he felt it burn and grow. He pushed himself up, staring out over the devastation.

The bridge was in shambles, massive chunks torn up to reveal raw metal reinforcement in places, which were themselves twisted to insane degrees. Blood and corpses were scattered about, with various pallets of stone or cranes sundered and smashed. There was a body, or parts of one, jammed between two colossal stone fragments.

"What the hell happened?"

Sakura's rasping laugh came to a close, and she looked down, a strange look in her eyes.

"Naruto."

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><p>They'd returned to Tsunami's home. There was little more to do. Zabuza had fled during the chaos of the fight that had ensued after Naruto went battle-mad, Haku had been flung off into the unknown, and Gatō... well, Kakashi didn't want to think too much on Gato. The small man had not been well treated by the empowered Naruto. The young Uzumaki had tore through the assembled mob and their leader. The mission was, technically speaking, a success; the bridge, though damaged, was in a far better place now that Gatō and his thugs were dead.<p>

Plus, Tazuna was safe. Which meant, with Gatō gone and no one to pay him, Zabuza was an unlikely threat, and thus the mission was success.

Sort of.

Kakashi sighed, staring out as the sun rose above the horizon. He'd come up to the roof to think, having found it very difficult to sleep. He'd stayed up nearly all night watching over both Naruto and Sasuke, the latter of which had actually managed to walk back to the home on his own, much to Kakashi's surprise. Naruto had to be carried, and was still unconscious even now. He seemed, though, very peaceful. As far as Kakashi could tell, Naruto was going to be fine. He seriously hoped he was right.

Tsunami had been ecstatic they'd all returned, yet worried about Naruto too. Inari cried. Tazuna simply smiled. Apparently, the damage to the bridge was a small price to pay for Gatō being, put simply, 'dealt with.' The old man had endured much. He could endure a few extra weeks of work. Probably.

Naruto was still asleep. Sasuke was, quite strangely, doing very well. His wounds were healing rapidly, almost too rapidly really, but there were more pressing issues at hand than to worry about how the ice-user had been able to inflict wounds that would heal so quickly. It was clear the intent was to make the death seem real, and it had worked to shocking effect on Naruto. The rage had allowed the seal to weaken, ever so slightly. That would need to be watched.

More importantly, though, was what else seemed to have awoken in him.

"Kakashi-sensei...?"

The jōnin looked over to find that Sakura had poked her head out of the window. She shielded her eyes from the bright sun, and then pulled herself out, dangling herself on the perch of the windowsill. She rested her hands on the ledge and watched the sun come up, eyes finally adjusting to its bright glow.

"Ah, Sakura. You're up early," Kakashi said, putting on a smile behind his mask. He suspected his young student was worried too; best to put on the cheerful face. It seemed to do little.

"I had a hard time sleeping," she replied with a frown. Kakashi sighed internally, "What happened with Naruto..."

She paused a moment, and then continued.

"That power he had, the red chakra. I've never read anything about that. Never heard of something that could do that."

"The red chakra is something he'll have to tell you when he's ready," Kakashi said quickly, perhaps too quickly. "It's his secret to tell."

Sakura looked up at him, more questions in her eyes.

"And his eyes? Naruto doesn't have a family. Is it a bloodline trait? Is that linked to the chakra too?"

Kakashi paused this time, weighing out his words. The truth was, he had no real answers for her, not in this. Many things could be said, and almost none of them would be certainly right. He wasn't used to this sort of thing. He didn't think anyone was. When in doubt, however, say what sounds best.

"I think it is. A bloodline, that is. It something I've only heard rumors about, old stories. It's a very rare power, a very dangerous one. However, while everyone will be able to see and know about those eyes, I'd keep the other parts secret for now."

"The red chakra, sensei? A secret?" Sakura said with confusion; she wasn't sure why he'd ask her to do that. Kakashi just nodded.

"It's complicated, but lets just say there are some people who would be very interested in knowing about it, and that should be kept quiet. He'll have enough attention with the eyes, he doesn't need more."

Sakura thought for a moment, then smiled and nodded. Kakashi returned it, wide and true, his own eye closing as he did. He doubted he'd be able to keep the report that secret, but at perhaps until he'd found a way to deal with this issue, or bring in a specialist who could.

Not too far off, Naruto began to stir. His stillness had faded into a true sleep, and he'd recklessly thrown the blankets off him during his slumber. He was the last one in the room, even Sasuke having woken up and made his way, half-stumbling still, downstairs for breakfast. Tazuna and his family was already there, and Sakura had arrived after her chat with their sensei. She hadn't gotten many answers, but she at least had some thoughts of things to look into when she got back to Konoha.

Back upstairs, Naruto finally awoke with a start. He bolted upright, eyes shooting open as he did. The world seemed so clear, so vibrant. His vision had never been bad, but never like this, it was strange. Part of him almost thought he was dreaming, but the sheer reality of things, and the pain he was feeling made him think otherwise; he didn't hurt in his dreams. The young Uzumaki pushed himself up, yawned, and slowly began to make his way downstairs, soreness be damned. He was hungry!

The various people at the table looked up at him as he came down, surprised to see him awake. They all stared at him, even Sakura, who had seen him and had far less of a reason to be surprised. This, though, was the first time she'd really gotten a look at him. Naruto froze, suddenly self-aware. He also realized, despite his grogginess, that both Sasuke and Sakura seemed almost to be glowing. It wasn't a purely visual thing, or at least not ONLY that. It was strange, like seeing something he never had before. Sakura's was warm, precise, if not very bright. Sasuke's was far larger, and churning. It seemed vibrant, and familiar to him.

"What the hell are you all look'n at?" he said suspiciously, looking down at himself to see if he had a stain or something. It was Sasuke who replied.

"Naruto, what the hell happened to your eyes?"

Naruto froze at that, for the briefest of moments, and then ran off to find the bathroom. He threw open the door, Sasuke and Sakura hot on his heels as he entered and stared into the mirror. There, a blond haired and whiskered face stared back, just as he was expecting, but his blue eyes had changed. Instead, now a set of concentric black rings in a field of lavender looked back. It looked like Hinata's eyes, almost, if not for the rings. Naruto froze, and then a grin began to grow on his face.

"Awesome," he exclaimed, throwing a fist into the air. He spun around to find his teammates, and his sensei, watching him from the door. He smiled wide as he yelled.

"What the hell is it?!"

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><p><strong>Author Note:<br>**A small aside to my other stuff. New Naruto-sensei in the next few weeks, its with my beta being edited as we speak, and the chapter after it is about a sixth of the way done in writing, and fully planned. Also look out for, likely, a story called Bushido, about an AU where the roles of ninja and samurai in the manga were reversed.

Don't expect this to update as much (which I know for me sounds like never, but expect new stuff soon.) It's mostly an exercise in fun-times writing. I do have an arc for it, mostly. That said, Shadow Clones plus Rinnegan was an idea I wanted to play with.

As a note, I'm fully aware of how the rinnegan awakens, and trust me this has been taken into consideration. All shall be revealed, in time.


	2. Chapter 1

_Naruto, and it's characters, and it's story, and everything else is © Masashi Kishimoto. _

_**Child of Destiny**_

_Never underestimate the power of people to change with the coming of new information, but never underestimate their shallowness as well. Remember who was who before, but do not discount what people have become. Though man is fickle, often true belief can follow shallow choices. Be content with the reality you have, even as you push for the reality you desire. _

▲Chapter One▲

Flush with as many questions as they were with success, the trip back to the village was nevertheless easier than the trip out. With no drunken, elderly, and rather surly bridge builder tagging along the progress was much faster, and smelled significantly less like a sake brewery. Except, of course, when they passed through the town with a sake brewery. They still made good time, of course; Tazuna had insisted on stopping when they'd passed through it before and it had taken several hours to pry him away. After the attack of the Demon Brothers, it had taken a fair bit of effort to prevent him from doubling back. Now, with the drunk safely home, three-fourths of the team safely underage, and their jōnin-sensei safely nothing more than a recreational drinker, the team safely passed through the village. Safely. However, that was not to say no one was drunk. Naruto was. On the success of the mission. On the fight on the bridge. On his brand new and (according to him) 'totally freaking the best things ever' eyes. This was, of course, interspersed with attempts to figure out what they actually did. This was not going as well as he was hoping.

As far as could be gathered by the knuckle-headed, hyperactive, blond ninja, they didn't really seem to do much except make him see better. Like, clearer, and stuff. Well, that, and that really surreal feeling of the aura that seemed to hover around people he saw. It wasn't even really seeing, like it was another level entirely. That was pretty weird. Pretty cool too, he thought, but weird.

It did not stop him from randomly throwing out ideas of what his eyes could do, based entirely on, as far as the rest of Team 7 could tell, no discernible pattern aside from sounding 'cool' to the orange-clad shinobi. Sasuke remained silent through most of this, sparing when Naruto would pester him enough with a random question about the sharingan; Naruto's eyes may look nothing like them, but magic eyes were magic eyes, yeah? There had to be some sort of connection!

"I wonder if they'll let me fly!" Naruto exclaimed rather suddenly after a short bout of semi-quiet contemplation. The cycle continued as Sasuke softly hnn'd, Kakashi sighed internally, and Sakura fought the urge to smack him over the head.

"Why the hell would your eyes let you fly?"

"Because it would be totally amazing to be able to fly!"

The greatest gift of Naruto's mind was its complete ability to detach reality from any meaningful part in its calculations. This was, sometimes, a very useful trait, particularly when it came to facing situations that any sensible, rational human being would likely take as suicide or simply too stupid to comprehend, let alone attempt. Naruto was not stupid, not really. He wasn't smart either. However, even putting his insane talent for tactile learning aside, his instinctive understanding of plans and concepts was not to be underestimated. Neither was his utter lack of anything resembling coherence compared the majority of the population.

Smart folks could easily out think Naruto in 90% of situations, but the last 10% would result in plans so alien that even a Nara was unlikely to grasp them. This was not theory; Shikamaru Nara had extensive experience with that fact.

"Or maybe," Naruto gawped, "they'll let me fire lasers from my hands!"

Sakura steamed. She supposed that at least he wasn't hitting on her; his preoccupation with his new and, she begrudgingly admitted, cool eyes. They weren't Sasuke cool, but, come on, what WAS Sasuke cool? Other than Sasuke, of course. Still, they were interesting. The academic inside of Sakura processed Naruto's childishness and linked it to actual knowledge. More than the sharingan, these new eyes, some sort of 'ringy-gan' or something, looked more like the byakugan of the Hyūga clan. She knew a bit about them.

The thought of sending Naruto to talk with their one Hyūga classmate made her pale, though. That poor girl. Sakura really hoped she'd get over her weird teammate; even if Naruto had proven himself in some ways, she still thought that the shy wallflower could do way better. At least Hinata wasn't going after Sakura's Sasuke, though. Regardless, her mind looped back around to Naruto's absolutely asinine declaration. Flying and lasers? What would be next? The power to summon beasts? The power to grow extra arms?

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted.

"Yes, Naruto?" the sensei replied drolly, not bothering to look up from his little orange book. He'd buried himself in, depending on who you asked, poorly written or expertly constituted smut.

"What about you? You've got the sharingan, right?"

Kakashi paused, evaluating that statement, and where it was likely to lead. There was silence as the man made a show of the contemplation to hide the fact he was... actually contemplating it.

"Yes."

Naruto's face scrunched up as he stared, as if he had been expecting something more substantial. Kakashi's monosyllabic reply was not up to snuff for the boy. His cheeks twitched, making it seem like the whiskers were alive.

"Well, do you have any idea what my eyes can do then?"

Ah, yes. Kakashi considered that too. He knew the rumors, the legends. The Rinnegan was supposed to allow the use of all the simple nature transformations, amongst other things. He hadn't heard anything about gravity powers or things like that, and he was unsure as a result if those old stories were really true. To his great benefit, Naruto spoke up before Kakashi was forced to decide if he should be encouraging this before speaking with the hokage.

"Oooo, wait, wait, what if it lets me tear people's souls out of their bodies!"

Sakura let out a long and suffering groan.

"Kakashi-sensei, how much longer till we get back to the village?" she asked, trying to put on the best and sweetest front she could muster, if only for her own benefit. Naruto was still caught in his own fantasies, apparently going off on one particularly long and detailed one involving the ability to control paper and turn into a shark. Kakashi, for his part, pulled his nose from the book he seemed to always be reading to look at her with his lazy look, trying to put on the best and most aloof front he could muster, if only for his own benefit.

"Well, well... a few hours, at least," the jōnin said, tapping his masked chin. Sakura groaned again, letting out all the frustration she had with it, or at least trying to. This was going to be a nightmare, but if Sasuke was being stoic about it, it would be the least Sakura could do to follow suit.

"No, idiot, I don't have any idea what your damn eyes can do!"

Ah, well, that settled that then. A dark sparkle came into Sakura's eye as she stalked over to her blond teammate. The murderous twinkle, one more than common due to his prankster ways and incessant nagging. She was going to crush him.

"Nnnnnarrrruuutooooo!" she intoned angrily as she advanced. He froze up in horror, throwing up his hands just in times to fail to deflect the blow that sent him sprawling. She stalked away, leaving her blond-haired teammate behind while Kakashi simply watched and sighed while Sasuke grunted something halfway between dismissal and approval (in the strange language that was Sasuke's grunts). Naruto's head swam, and he stared up at the bright sky as he gathered himself. He saw the Demon Brothers, shuriken-chain linking their arms, diving down from above with murder in their eyes. The time to process this sudden realization. His chakra pulsed as a wave of gravity rippled outwards, catching the pair and sending them flying.

Team 7 watched as the pair rolled and skidded across the ground on impact, kicking up a cloud of dust. Their chain's razor edge sparked against their armor as it bound up, apparently rather resiliently remaining intact despite the impact. Sakura and Sasuke turned to Kakashi knowingly.

"What?" he said simply, "You did good the first time, I was fairly sure you'd catch the the second time too."

The two members of Team 7 who hadn't either known it was coming or used strange eye-related gravity powers to fling a pair of missing-nin a dozen yards groaned in unison. Sakura found herself oddly calm; perhaps the time in the Land of Waves had done something to her, but these two really didn't bother her any more. Sasuke, for his part, was torn between boredom and the strangest feeling, one he was not used to. It took him a moment realize what he was feeling was envy. That tore him up; he was jealous of the idiot. The hell was that all about?

Naruto's just stared, half surprised and half grasping what he had just done. It felt good, it felt natural, like an extension of who he was. A wild grin grew onto his face; this was power. This was amazing! The Demon Brothers calculated their options and very quickly decided to cut their losses; vengeance was worthless if you died getting it. Well, Gōzu got it at least. The more level-headed and rational member of the pair spoke quickly.

"We're done here, Meizu!" he shouted. The younger, by mere moments but younger still, brother was just about to complain when he felt an otherworldly force grab ahold of him. He had only time to shout expletives as he was dragged towards Naruto. The blond-hared genin had his hand outstretched, operating on pure instinct. Gōzu found himself dragged along for the ride, the chain binding them together.

"Dammit, the hell is this?!" the younger brother yelled, struggling in vain as he was drawn forward at increasing speed. In no time he had reached Naruto, whose left hand shot out and slammed into the man's chest. Meizu screamed as a black spike shot from Naruto's sleeve and passed not only through Meizu, but into his brother Gōzu too; the spike was only around two feet, passing swiftly through both of the missing-nin right as the elder brother slammed into the back of the first. The abnormal gravity ceased as they crumpled into a pile, bleeding from their wounds and concussed. They were down for the count.

Naruto Uzumaki stared, shocked at what he'd just done. Sasuke Uchiha stared, wondering how the hell the idiot had gotten so strong all the sudden. Sakura Haruno stared, mouth agape and with shock blanking out any rational thought. Kakashi Hatake stared, realizing just the barest bits of the truth that he was in way over his head. Team 7 all stared, all thinking different but related things. There was a moment of silence, and then Naruto began to woop.

"Alright!" he shouted in joy, pile of broken missing-nin at his feat, "My eyes are freaking awesome!"

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><p>A master of self-control, Kakashi did not betray the massive weight he suddenly felt in his face, nor his body language. Even standing in front of the Third Hokage, the legendary Hiruzen Sarutobi, the student of the First and Second Hokages themselves, a person called not only the Professor, but the literal God of the Shinobi, Kakashi let nothing show about the sheer terror he was feeling at the implications of a certain student of his with a certain prisoner sealed in a certain seal in his certain body awakening a certain mythical dōjutsu while certain red chakra was shown to leak from the certain seal that contained the certain prisoner.<p>

It was certainly worrisome.

Yet despite it, Kakashi kept his cool. The jōnin focused on the simple things, like what a nice day it was; sunny, not a cloud in the sky, and he'd gotten his genin back to the village safely. He had led the rest of Team 7 back to Konoha following the second run in with the ill-fated Demon Brothers. The ex-Kiri missing-nin had been trounced worse than the first time, and by the one who had been the 'weak link' in the team the first time, no less. Of course, said weak leak hadn't faced death, nor awoken ancient power and/or evil at the time. Still, it was not a good way to go.

And he was fairly certain it was going to be a 'go' too. Kakashi had rather unceremoniously slit their throats with a kunai, to the shock of both Sakura and Naruto, and the stoic indifference of Sasuke. It was mercy more than anything; between the impact wounds and the impalement Naruto had rendered unto them, they were goners anyway. He collected proof of their identities; they would have minor bounties and the team deserved them, after all. Though Sakura was a bit shaken, Naruto seemed rather enamored with the idea of more pay on top of their already bumped C rank and the bounties on a high ranking missing-nin like Zabuza.

Regardless, grisly trophies tucked and bodies stuffed into a few bushes, the quartet had returned to their glorious march home, and Naruto had gone from wondering about what his eyes could do to actively attempting to grab stuff with his mind. Nearly terrifyingly so, he'd actually gotten half good at it, even if he wasn't being that precise, and Kakashi eventually had to stop him from uprooting so many trees and chucking them off into the distance by warning him he may hit someone. Suddenly regretful, he'd turned to trying to summon the black sticks and rods instead, which was apparently harder for him to manage.

Sasuke had looked a bit queer at all of it, but he was quiet as usual. Sakura, though happy that Naruto was not pestering anyone directly, had instead become quietly smoldering as Naruto wrought destruction on the landscape. Kakashi had remained as aloof as he could, even as he told Naruto to keep his powers a bit quiet as they entered the village, and further advised him to keep the burst of red chakra a secret too. Their report to the hokage had been brief and intentionally truncated. Pay had been distributed, leading to Naruto's wallet nearly bursting, and the cute little child soldiers being sent off to a well deserved break.

Then Hiruzen had dismissed his assistants, dismisses the rest of the waiting teams, dismissed most of his staff entirely, and then let Kakashi, who had just KNOWN this was going to happen, go through the REAL story of the "C"-rank mission "Escort the Bridge Builder." All of it; the near death of Sasuke (though, his intervention to save Naruto was a key aspect here, and one the Hokage was pleased for, though it felt weird to be pleased at the near death; the willingness to sacrifice for a comrade was something new for Sasuke), the weakening of the seal, and the eyes that Naruto awoke while not knowing how to use them.

And then the Demon Brothers part 2, where Naruto killed them both and then proceeded to rather crazily rapidly learn to uproot several hundred year old trees with his chakra. Kakashi figured out fairly quickly it was manipulation of gravity, though he'd kept the details from Naruto; he'd planned to do so until he'd consulted with the Hokage, at least. Hiruzen listened with a grave expression, pipe firmly wedged into his mouth.

Hiruzen saw right through Kakashi's stoicism. He knew this man well, and besides, he was called the God of Shinobi for a damn good reason. So for all Kakashi's stoic poise, Hiruzen knew the man was terrified; he'd found a team, one that passed, one that the hokage knew quite well reminded Kakashi of his own team, so long ago. Now, he was facing something even newer; Sasuke was a handful, as was Minato's son. Now the latter of those would have an even bigger target on his head. It was no doubt a boon for the village, but... who knows how it would interact with the seal.

"So, if I gather," Hiruzen said, tapping his pipe lightly, "Is that you've not a clue how to handle this."

Kakashi paused, and then smiled that wide, narrow-eyed smile, "Not even the barest clue."

The hokage nodded sagely, and then places his pipe down onto the desk. He balanced it, the bowl still letting the sweet smell of fine herbs, hemp, and a touch of opium waft upwards. Then he removed his hat, that legendary, much craved hat. He set that on his desk, and then moved his chair back slightly, and then took up a pen, jotting down a missive on a piece of chakra reaction paper. It took barely a moment. He rolled it and sealed it, a simple but effective fire fuinjutsu that would incinerate it if it wasn't opened right. He slid back the chair, walked to the door, and popped it open.

"To the rookery; they'll know the seal," Hiruzen said simply, and the hand of an ANBU snapped it up; it was not really an ANBU duty, but they knew how to take hints. It took special talent to be an ANBU; they had to be the most innovative, outside of the box thinkers that followed orders to the letter. Very few could master such a thing. Hiruzen returned to his seat after, donned his hat once more, and then restored his pipe to its proper place.

Kakashi had spent this entire time with that smile on his face. Sarutobi fought a sigh; Hatake could be such a smart-ass some times. The hokage took a few puffs of his pipe before speaking.

"I haven't the barest clue either," he declared, and then continued to enjoy the sweet taste of his pipe. Such simple joys made coping with the stress of the job so much easier. He noted that Kakashi hadn't moved much and sighed.

"I know of only one person who has any experience with the Rinnegan," Hiruzen said, nodding thoughtfully. Kakashi looked confused; the Rinnegan was always thought to be a legend., how could someone have experience with it? His mind was flush with possibilities, but no answers. Hiruzen picked up on this and threw him a bone.

"It's a great benefit, too; the same person is the only living person with intimate knowledge of the Uzushiogakure-style of fuinjutsu," he said with the sagely nod that was the calling card of an experienced old shinobi with a penchant for enigmatic statements, "Meaning he can check the status of Naruto's seal as well."

Ah.

Well, that was something, now wasn't it? Kakashi rubbed his chin through his mask. The office was quiet. Jiraiya was certainly an eclectic man, it seemed. Kakashi hadn't any idea he'd experience with the Rinnegan, but...

"Well, Jiraiya does have more business to be checking on Naruto than anyone," Kakashi stated simply, but with heavy implications. Sarutobi did not miss the subtle meaning there; underneath the underneath, as it was described. Sarutobi couldn't blame him. Jiraiya was the boy's godfather, yet his baggage of the past in the form of Orochimaru still weighed him down. The hokage sighed, letting out a stream of smoke as he did.

"For now, let Naruto explore his powers in his own way," Sarutobi said, "Just keep a close eye on him."

Kakashi nodded, and turned to leave, yet caught himself before he slipped out of a window. He'd nearly forgotten.

"Ah, hokage-sama," he said. Hiruzen raised an eyebrow; now what?

"I am considering them for the chūnin selection exam."

Sarutobi let the words hang in the air, mulling them over. He was not surprised; the latest generation was a strange thing. Genin didn't normally possess the raw talent or potential this pool had. Nine children; nine was a sacred number, an auspicious one. So many of them were scions of powerful families. There was something strange at work there. Sarutobi was not surprised Kakashi was saying it; he knew full well that his own son would put his team forward, and Kurenai was likely to do the same.

"This generation is exceptional, isn't it, Kakashi?"

The masked shinobi considered his answer carefully. He grew up in a time of war; he'd seen many shinobi younger than his own genin forced into both terrible situations and to new heights of talent by the rigors of the conflict. They were forced to rise or die. This new generation, though? Their talent, even ones so many thought of as 'dead-last,' was nothing short of amazing given the relative peace. It was terrifying to think what they could become if a threat large enough to push them arose.

And that was his answer.

"I hope they don't have to be."

He disappeared through the window; he had time enough to visit Obito and Rin.

* * *

><p>Team 7, flush with praise from the hokage and plenty of ryō, had headed out of the hokage's office after the dismissal, none the wiser to the discussion that followed their departure. Naruto was staring up at the sky, hands folded behind his head with a rather pleased look, Sakura had a giddy bounce to her step, and even Sasuke had a pleased grin, even if his hands were planted firmly in his pockets. The trio headed down the route from the office, not even thinking much that they hadn't split up and gone of their separate ways as was normal for them.<p>

They noticed the others before they came on them. The rest of the newest class of graduates to actually make it into full shinobi duty were gathered around a crossroads; the path leading up to the hokage's office split off into several directions. There, the others had gathered after turning in their own missions, or so it was assumed. The sun was just beginning to fall; the day had reached its back half. With nothing left to do on official business and all the teachers off doing who knew what they'd all been given a surplus of time. It was Kiba who spoke up first, leaning against a street sign.

"Well you guys look happy as a dog with a bone," he said with a toothy grin, causing Akamaru to bark from his perch inside the boy's jacket. Shino adjusted his glasses, likely the equivalent of a sigh or the quiet young man. It was unlikely the Inuzuka even realized the nature of the expression; he was too far down the hole. Hinata giggled lightly. The others present were less amused. Shikamaru looked bored, Chōji looked confused, and Ino just looked annoyed (though giddy that Sasuke had shown up). Naruto was the first to respond.

"You've got no idea!" he exclaimed, taking the silly statement at face value. His expression changed though as he saw the odd looks everyone seemed to be giving him. Ever the emotive, Naruto's face scrunched up into confusion before it dawned on him. Sadly, Sasuke had to chime in first.

"It's your eyes, idiot," he said simply, earning an angry snarl from Naruto. Shikamaru followed up with that.

"Yeah, about that," he quipped, hands planted firmly in his pockets as he lazed against a building, "Those are new."

"Oh, yeah, right! I unlocked a totally awesome kekkei genkai on our last mission while fighting an A-rank Missing-Nin to avenge Sasuke's death!"

The group just stared at him for a moment, processing it, and then turned to Sasuke. He hnnnn'd dramatically, and looked away, "It's... actually not that inaccurate."

"But... Sasuke-kun isn't dead!" Ino screeched, rushing over him and groping at him, as if she wasn't sure of her own declaration. The Uchiha just glowered. Sakura pushed her aside.

"Get off him, Ino-pig!"

"So, avenge your death, huh?" Kiba asked, voice dripping with sarcasm. Sasuke shrugged.

"I got better." Ah, smooth. Ino and Sakura squeed, causing the rest of the males present (sans the aloof and otherwise never compared duo of Sasuke and Shino) to blanch. Hinata just looked confused. She pressed her fingers together, but managed to speak up despite a blush.

"A-ah, but, um... w-what do they do, Naruto-kun?" she asked, causing Naruto just to light up. She blushed deeper, but he didn't seem to notice that, too engrossed in a sudden and dramatic show. The group (sans his team who just looked annoyed by his antics) watched as he struck a pose, with bent knees and dramatically spread arms. He thrust his hands forward, shouting as he did.

"Universal Pull!"

He focused his power, reaching out with the power he'd rather quickly gotten a hang for. Naruto did not realize the deeper meaning behind it, and nor had Kakashi when he'd seen it. He had not ever seen the technique, and his sharingan was unable to really copy it, as it took no hand seals, seeming almost innate to the body. Kakashi gained some instinctive understanding, of course, more than normal even (which was confusing,) but what it really MEANT was lost on even a genius like him: the level of control Naruto was able to express with the power was way beyond what he'd ever shown before. So, as he reached out and used the gravity powers to nab a trashcan from across the street, no one really understood that the dead last of the academy, the kid who couldn't even form a bunshin, was shaping chakra with control that rivaled the top of the class.

It didn't help that the can came screaming so fast at him that it flew directly into him, knocking him over and sending him sprawling. Kiba busted out laughing, Sasuke shook his head and scoffed, and Hinata shouted in worry. The rest of the reactions were a mix of the same. Naruto growled in anger and felt power rise up in him; power and anger. He shouted again.

"Almighty Push!"

The can was thrown off him, it's soft metal construction nearly crumpling by the sheer force of the chakra thrown into the 'attack.' Naruto rose with it, moving in a fashion alien even for shinobi as he did. His hand shot upwards, following the trajectory of the flying can. A flurry of black and razor-edged rods shot from his palm, the fusillade tearing all the way through the already crumpling can. Naruto wasn't done yet though. His left hand alternated with the right. No one really noticed as a small nozzle formed on the palm of his hand this time. Mostly because it was obscured by the flash of the chakra beam that followed, utterly disintegrating the remains of the can in a sudden conflagration.

Somehow, Naruto managed to make the small bits of paper trash that fell down around him look almost dignified.

The expressions were different this time. Sakura, who had become oddly numb to Naruto's use of that pushing and pulling, if still weirded by those black rods. had never seen anything like that blast of chakra. Ino was staring with an utterly confused expression, as if torn between shock and admiration. Shikamaru had an alien expression, one of literal and actual shock, while Chōji had actually lost a few chips with his mouth agape like that. Kiba was freaking, Shino had actually removed his glasses, and Hinata was... blushing still? Even Sasuke's eyes were wide.

"Where the hell did that come from?!" the Uchiha shouted, though Naruto hadn't apparently recovered from his OWN shock. Where HAD that come from. There was silence for a moment before...

"Hah! Told you my eyes are totally awesome-ttebayo!"

"Where did those names come from?" asked Sakura. She was as confused as Sasuke; even watching Naruto perform them countless times on the trip home hadn't prepared her for that. Naruto turned to her with a smug grin.

"Came up with them myself! They sound good, yeah?" The cheesy grin led to another round of expressions, but Sakura was noticing one in particular when the brilliant side of her got a scheme, a plan, an idea. Her inner side grinned malevolently, and she almost tuned out the various questions or exclamations from the other Rookies, casting a glance at Hinata's blushing face and then at Naruto, and then to Sasuke. Oh, it was almost, no, WAS brilliant! She faded back into paying attention just in time to hear Ino-pig speak up.

"You know, Naruto," she said coyly, as if actually noticing him for the first time, "You look kind of cool now."

Sakura noticed Hinata tensing up at those words, and spotted the conflict on her face. It wasn't hard to tell that Hinata was happy Naruto was being praised, yet also worried about it. That was actually sort of sweet; her watching Naruto had hardly been a secret, even if Sakura had never, not even once, like seriously, never... ever ever understood it. Like seriously, not even once. Like... eh... well, anyway. Sakura noticed, as did her teammates. Naruto was grinning ear to ear, and Sakura sighed internally; a little praise and it went straight to his head. He turned towards her and warning bells went off in her mind. Inner Sakura screamed out for him not to ask her out on a date; he'd ruin everything, shānnarō! She spoke first, cutting him off before he could turn Ino's praise into some sort of reason to date him.

"H-hey, Naruto!" she said, perhaps a bit hasty and loudly. The others sort of glanced at her oddly, but she persevered! She had to, for the sake of her future with Sasuke-kun!

"Hmm, what is it, Sakura-chan? I was just thinking we cou-"

"Ah, you know, I was thinking," she interrupted, determined to guide the conversation where she wanted, "You were really eager to get Sasuke-kun to try and help you, but I was just thinking... Hinata has special eyes too, you know! Maybe she could help you out!"

Hinata grew almost stiff as a board. The whole group seemed to turn to her, and her eyes darted back and forth under the attention. Naruto gave it a exaggerated but contemplative look, almost a play at what a child thought the look was supposed to be. He was staring at her eyes so intently, and then, that bright smile. Hinata could not help but turn deep crimson when she realized it was directed at her.

"Hey hey, that's a great idea!" Naruto exclaimed and rushed over to the Hyūga, "So, Hinata, what ta ya say? Help me figure out more about my eyes?"

Oh dear. Oh dear, dear oh dear. She gathered all her resolve into her core, pushing herself to be so much like the dedicated and friendly boy in front her, the one who she had tried so hard to imitate and learn from. He was dedicated, driven! She could be like that, oh yes! She steeled herself, and spoke!

"T-that is, uh... I mean, ah... y-yes. I'd love to help you learn to use your eyes, N-naruto-kun!" she managed, bowing slightly as she did. She did not see the others. A few, mostly the girls and Kiba, were chuckling at the little exchange, the former of which thought it was cute. Sakura, in particular, pumped an internal arm at the initial success. Now to see how it all played out.

Naruto seemed to light up even more. He snatched Hinata's hands up, holding them tightly, but gently. Honest emotion flashed across his face.

"R-really!" he said. He hadn't even realized how much he'd doubted his own question. People never said yes when he asked them things, after all. I mean, a FEW did, like Iruka-sensei and... well, mostly Iruka-sensei. Still, he'd never given up the dream that some day someone WOULD. And sure, Hinata was shy, and a little dark, and a little weird but... hey, still, this was pretty cool! She had said yes!

"That's great! Thanks, Hinata, you're really the best!"

Hinata froze, entire body locking up as her mind overloaded at those words. That... that was just too much for her! In just a few moments, she'd gone from worrying, to marveling, and now Naruto was thanking her for just saying she wanted to help him. Would... would that always have worked? She had never even imagined...

She didn't even realize he was freaking out over her now.

"Hinata? Ey, Hinata!? You ok?!" he shouted, placing hands on her shoulders, and gently shaking her. Kiba busted out laughing, Ino was giggling, and Shikamaru sighed but was smiling. Sakura was about to intervene when Shino, of all people, placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Do not worry, Naruto-san," he intoned, voice formal and proper, "My teammate has simply had a very busy day, and is taking a moment to process everything."

"Ah!" Naruto looked sheepish, and confused, but happy. Sakura founding herself smiling too; sure, this plan was mostly about trying to pawn Naruto and his annoying advances off on Hinata, but, I mean, she wanted that anyway, yeah? Anyway, while it was mostly about that, it was nice to see Naruto happy too. Sure, he was obnoxious, and annoying, and a pain in her ass, and always getting in the way between her and Sasuke, but... I mean, he wasn't that bad, she guessed. It was nice to see him smile. Like when she used to see Ino smile. She glanced at her old friend, who was smiling too; Sakura knew she could appreciate the adorableness of the scene too.

"Hey, how about you meet up with Hinata tomorrow morning?" Sakura suggested, still hoping to guide things. "That'll give her time to recover from the day, and you too from the trip. Training Ground Three, maybe? Bout 10? I'm sure she'll be ok with that."

Naruto looked back and forth between Shino and Sakura, only mildly bewildered.

"Well, what do you say, Shino? You're her teammate and all," he asked. The bespectacled Aburame adjusted his glasses and nodded.

"I suspect that would be just fine."

"Y-yes!" Hinata suddenly exclaimed. That earned a raised eyebrow from Shino; he had not expected her to recover so quickly.

"That will be f-fine, Naruto-kun," she said as sweetly as she could muster. Naruto, for his part, actually seemed to notice that too; a slight tinge of red colored his cheeks. He jumped back, proximity and touch apparently becoming quite apparent to him for once. He scratched the back of his head and chuckled. Ino brought her hand up to cover her giggling, while her teammates actually were smiling too. It really was a cute scene. Dense as a rock that Naruto was.

"Well," Ino said, "It's starting to get late. We should probably get home. I just KNOW Asuma-sensei is going to have us do a bunch of training tomorrow, and probably try to squeeze a mission in too."

"You've got a point," Shikamaru said, "It's going to be quite troublesome regardless, I'd rather not do it while tired too."

"You're always tired, Shikamaru," was Chōji's contribution to the conversation. Shikamaru just shrugged. It was true, after all.

"Yeah yeah, Kurenai-sensei gave us tomorrow off actually, but I gotta help my sis. Fresh litter of puppies." Kiba folded his arms behind his head and grinned; he clearly wasn't all that annoyed about this duty. Akamaru yipped his own assent. Shino remained silent; either he had no plans, or had no intent share them.

Sakura realized Kakashi hadn't actually said anything about a meet up tomorrow; that was weird. She shrugged it off though, that DID mean a day off...

"Well, we'll see you guys later then. See ya, Billboard Brow, Sasuke-kun!" Ino said, heading off after. Sakura gave her a rude gesture. Sasuke didn't even hnn; he appeared deep in thought, and had since Naruto had blasted the can. The group dispersed, with Hinata mumbling a goodbye to everyone and 'Naruto-kun' as her team led her off. Naruto waved and then, following a stomach growl, said something about starving and leaped off yelling something like 'Ramen-chan, here I come!'

This left just Sasuke and Sakura. The pink-haired girl blushed, a breeze rolling by that ruffed both of their clothes and hair. He was still standing there, quiet, but glanced at her after a moment.

"H-hey, Sasuke-kun..." she began, feeling suddenly very much like Hinata, "Do you wanna maybe go do something? M-maybe grab something to eat? I-if you're hungry, that is."

He watched and analyzed her for a moment. Naruto's sudden competence hadn't escaped his notice. For the first time, the whispers in the back of his head had crystallized into actual full thoughts: Naruto was getting stronger. He was getting stronger very, very quickly. The eyes were part of it, sure, but Sasuke had those too. He had finally unleashed the power of his Sharingan. That, though, wouldn't be enough. If Naruto was going to be training, and with help (even if it was just that strange Hyūga) than who knew what was going to come of it. Naruto was getting stronger. NARUTO of all people.

That wouldn't do. He wouldn't let that idiot get better than HIM.

He turned away and started walking off, heading for the training grounds; he had work to do.

"I need to train," he said simply, causing Sakura to deflate. She watched him go, disappointment flooding her. Then, a strange thing happened, he stopped and glanced over his shoulder, looking at her with one eye as he spoke.

"You coming?"

She froze... and then exploded into motion, chasing after him with an eager stride.

"Y-yes!" she shouted, not the least bit concerned with a curfew, or hunger, or anything. In that moment, she wanted nothing more than to do whatever Sasuke did. And, for better or worse, she was happy.

None of them had particularly noticed the various other ninja or civilians who had seen Naruto's little display of ocular prowess, or the rumors that followed. They were unaware of the new dynamics added to the population's mix of ignorance or anger at Naruto. Before long, rumors had it that Naruto had uprooted entire buildings with unknown power, and thrown the rubble several miles away. Very few believed the full and extreme limits of these rumors.

But enough believed there was something going on, and a steady unease began to grow.

* * *

><p>It was a fair bit from ten o'clock, yet Naruto found himself far too wound up to simply stay in his apartment. His coming training with Hinata was weighing on him strangely. Part of him was ecstatic; other than his team, he'd never really gotten to train with anyone before. There was only so much one could do to practice teamwork or coordination when the only person you had to play with was a Kage Bunshin. The other half of him was almost terrified; what if she really didn't want to, and had just said it to be nice or something? What if she wasn't actually going to show up? He realized he didn't know much about Hinata. She was just that shy person with the weird eyes.<p>

That was a bit unfair, now that he had weird eyes too. Cool eyes, but weird. Hinata's eyes were probably really cool too. He felt bad for thinking about her so negatively. Pushing his doubts out along with those thoughts, he resolved to instead go in with an open mind. And he'd trust her, too. She'd be there.

He hoped.

Regardless, he was way too energetic to just stay cooped up, and instead ran out to walk the streets, maybe spend some of the prodigious ryō that he'd earned from his totally great takedown of four killer rogue ninja. He'd always known he was great, and now he was starting to really have a chance to prove it. At this rate, he was sure he'd be the hokage in no time. He needed to get Sarutobi-sama to give him some more crazy missions. Maybe taking down a ring of elite ninjas seeking to make a doomsday weapon? Yeah, something like that would be AWESOME.

Naruto glanced around; he'd entered the market district. Several shops were still closed, but more than enough were open. There were a variety to choose from, though he'd been turned away from more than a few of them as a kid. Now that he wore the hitae-ite that bore the symbol of the Leaf, marking him as a full shinobi, none of them would really dare, but Naruto didn't push it. Why the hell would he want to give his hard-earned money to people who didn't want his business? So, he tended to go to those who had just been distant and cold before, rather than actively off-putting.

He passed a shop, and noticed the masks hanging there. Memories flooded back of a time long ago, before the academy, before everything. He remembered how that shop-keep had treated him simply for looking at him, throwing the mask at him just to get him to leave. The feeling, the memories, they nearly dragged him out of his high until he shook his head. No, they wouldn't ruin it. The shop-keep noticed him passing by, eyes widening in odd shock. Naruto just gave him a blank expression; the hell was that about?

Shrugging internally and passing along, he couldn't help but feel a bit self-conscious. He was used to half of the people viewing him with contempt, the other half looking on with utter indifference that bordered on ignoring him. Now, though, passing through, there was something else. Shopkeepers and customers alike were looking at him, but now it was half with contempt, half with indifference, and half with this strange look; something like fear or awe, or some mix between the two. Naruto was not very good at math, but he was actually pretty damn good at reading people. Some of the time, at least.

Had they heard about his mission and been impressed? Was it his eyes? He hadn't a clue. He just knew that look, the one that he'd never seen anyone give him before... that was new and he didn't really like it. He hurried past a bakery where a customer gave him the look while the baker ignored him, only to have the customer turn to go whispering to the baker. Naruto didn't know what they were talking about, and wasn't sure he wanted to. He pushed onward, coming up on a shop he kinda liked. It was a clothier that had treated him at least neutrally; pure business, the man hadn't cared much for Naruto, that much was sure, but he was firmly in the ignore category, even when selling. Naruto could deal with that.

The moment he'd seen the shop a new idea passed into his head. He'd spotted some white robes, sort of like ones he'd seen before on guys that had eyes that looked like Hinata's. The robes themselves weren't all that attractive to him, but the white color was actually kinda snazzy in hindsight. It DID work well with the eyes too, he had to admit. Which, of course, got him to a thinking. With his new eyes, maybe he should look into something a little bit different. It was with that idea firmly in head that he rushed into the shop.

* * *

><p>To say Hinata was restless would be quite the understatement. She sat on a log, alternating from pressing her fingers, tapping her foot, and looking around to make sure she wasn't surprised when Naruto arrived. She was sure he would; of course; Naruto had said he'd be there, so he'd be there. That was just the sort of person he was. It was that creed, that way, that essential Naruto-ness that had drawn her to him in the first place. She admired him for that, and dreamed of being the same. She knew he'd show up.<p>

And that was why she was so restless.

A swift, early-morning breeze rolled through the training ground, just a brief thing that nevertheless sent her hair fluttering. She adjusted it simply, wondering if she shouldn't have spent more time on it. She had been so nervous. She WAS so nervous. After the little meet up with the other teams, where Naruto had proudly displayed the power of his new eyes, Hinata had actually taken a detour, seeking Kurenai-sensei. She needed advice, she needed to just to gush and emote and... and...

Well. She needed help. Hinata had found Kurenai speaking with Asuma Sarutobi. From what she gathered as she approached they'd been talking about Naruto. However, they noticed her rather fast. She apologizing for interrupting them, something they waved off a bit too quickly, and then asked about Naruto. They gave each other a strange look, and Hinata quickly added it was because she was going to be training with him and... well, she got quite flushed after that. Asuma-sensei smiled and said he'd leave the two girls to it, bidding farewell and heading off, cigarette in his mouth.

Kurenai smiled and led Hinata to a bench. The young Hyūga simply gushed after that. She told her about Naruto's eyes and showing off, how happy he'd seemed, and then Sakura's suggestion. Hinata didn't notice the small grin when Hinata had mentioned that. She also hadn't noticed the mixed expression when she'd heard of her teammates' responses. She was simply too engrossed in the moment. Hinata had only recently begun to really open up to her teammates. They trusted her, they encouraged her, but... she was always worried she was holding them back. She stayed late after training.

Kurenai thought she was dedicated. Hinata didn't really think about it. She was half trying to chase Naruto, and half trying to avoid the shame of failure as she ran though kata or drills. Even when he wasn't there, she could feel her father's stoic gaze and the disappointment on the faces of the Clan elders. Sometimes, though, and only sometimes, when she was alone, she could feel truly free and flowed across the field in a form just like the wind through the trees. No one noticed, though; there was no one around to understand her success, not even herself.

Hinata took a moment to gather herself before telling Kurenai about Naruto's display and then his request to train and her own uncertainties. Mostly, she was worried she wouldn't be able to help him, and he'd be disappointed with her. Kurenai had sighed, assuring her that she knew Hinata would be helpful. Her chakra control was fantastic, her skill with the byakugan was improving, and her taijutsu was fantastic. Hinata blushed at the praise, but hadn't been convinced.

It helped, at least a little bit, but now, as she waited for Naruto to arrive, those fears came back. What if...? So many what ifs...

She didn't have to worry for much longer, though, as Naruto was seconds from arriving. He ran up and came to a skidding halt. Hinata's eyes grew wide, trying to take in all of him. He shouted, grinning wide.

"Mornin', Hinata!" he shouted, planting his hands on his hips. He'd changed his clothes, and not just a little bit either. The outfit he'd chosen was... elaborate. Hinata had seen Naruto wear many things over the years she'd, charitably worded, known him. She still remembered the goggles that he wore prior to getting his hitae-ite. She had to admit, though, that this might have been one of the first times she'd ever seen him not wearing orange.

The outfit was certainly different. As far as she could tell it was composed of a somewhat baggy set of pants and a matching top, sort of an off-white color. It was long-sleeved, with black blocks that could have been trigrams on the shoulders, and a trio of black stripes on the forearms. The pants had them too, above the ankles but just below the knee. There was a sort of flak jacket, a sleeveless slate grey thing with an elaborate red spiral pattern on the chest and stomach. His shoes were open toed, matching the color of the jacket and bearing similar black trigram stripes to the the rest of the outfit, with gloves to match. Perhaps most strange were the half-circle bands that hung down from the jacket, the left side bearing a number of tufts of red fur attached to turquoise beads. Closing it all out was the sword strapped to his back, hilt covered in white cloth and a darker grey sheath.

Hinata stared, trying to take it all in. Naruto was standing there, face lit up so much it was a wonder he could see at all. His hands were still firmly on his hips, and caught mid pose. She caught herself, realizing he was waiting for a response, and finally spoke up.

"I, uh... it looks nice, Naruto-kun," she began, slowly. "But... um, why?"

His expression began to shift slightly. It was... odd. Not an expression Hinata had seen before. Not disappointment, she'd seen that on his face (and loathed it so), it was something different. What Hinata didn't understand was thart Naruto wasn't sure what the expression was for, either, because he wasn't really sure what he was feeling. Sweat beaded up on his forehead; the outfit was hot, perhaps a bit too bulky. Why had he bought it again?

Oh, right, to look cool.

Huh.

"E-eh... it seemed like a good idea at the time," Naruto finally said, scratching the back of his head. He wasn't particularly sure why he sounded apologetic. Hinata, as if picking up on it, sprang into a response.

"N-no, I like it! It's very... unique," she began, though his face didn't light up quite as much. He did smile, though, and that emboldened her. "But... I liked when you wore your old outfit too. I thought you looked good in orange."

She blushed. He blushed. She was not used to being able to speak so freely. He was not used to being complimented. Naruto laughed to hide his embarrassment, and Hinata smiled through her blush because Naruto was happy. She didn't really understand it at the time, and maybe never would, but it was no mere response to the boy she so admired being happy. Partly, yes, but more truely his laugh was approval. His laugh was endorsement. That it was HIS laugh only made that fact better.

Naruto, for his part, realized he was sweating. This was partly because Hinata was watching him so intently, but also because it was summer and he'd had the bright idea of wearing a full baggy layered body suit with a flak jacket. Keenly aware of these facts, and Hinata's words, he doffed the flak jacket and began pulling the jacket off. His view was blocked, and so he didn't notice Hinata turn an even darker shade of red as he began to strip.

"Well, in that case," he said through the jacket as it was over his head, revealing a black undershirt with the traditional spiral emblem common on so many Konohagakure outfits emblazoned on the chest, "This is hot as hell anyway, so I'll save it for a special occasion. Thanks, Hinata!"

She choked out a muffled reply, almost squeaking when he moved to pull off the baggy pants. He'd chucked the shirt and flak jacket to the side, and Hinata was fairly certain that was bad for the blade of a katana, but had been distracted when Naruto had fallen onto his back and began pulling the bottoms up. By the time she mustered the courage to look, he was pushing himself back up. Apparently he'd been wearing a set of orange shorts under it, with a black line running down each side side. Simple, yet somehow the orange alone seemed to just fit on him. She was blushing, but smiled.

"Ey, Hinata!" he said, approaching her and adjusting his shorts at the same time after he kicked the pants into the pile of other attire. To her great personal satisfaction she did not completely lock up as he did, or when he placed a hand across her forehead, though she did feel likely twice as bright in the face as she was. Naruto frowned, "You look like you're burning up in that coat, feel like it too. You should take it off!"

Ah.

She knew Naruto didn't mean anything by it, not REALLY. If anything, she was happy he was showing concern. Still, she couldn't help but think about a very different way to take it. She felt like quite the pervert as a rather x-rated scene passed through her mind. She pulled herself from it, trying to focus on something else. Which, as it turned out, was listening to Naruto-kun's suggestion. She tossed the jacket to the side, revealing the deep purple, near black really, undershirt. Naruto grinned wide and gave a thumbs up, triggering more smut to flood Hinata's mind.

"Ah, yes. It is a warm day after all," she said, centering herself. He was watching her, very closely. She was quickly growing used to those strange new eyes of his: despite the coloring, they never reminded her of her father's. Blue or white, ringed or not, there was a joy and softness in those eyes. She smiled.

"So," she began, mind steeled, "Your eyes let you do some... impressive feats, but what do they let you see?"

"Whattaya mean?" Naruto replied quizzically. Hinata had to think; it was hard to get into the mind of someone who hadn't been born with strange eyes. She could not really imagine not having the byakugan, after all. Her mind raced as she tried to find a way to phrase it. It was to her great relief that Naruto jumped in something popping into his head.

"Oh! You mean like the, uh, glowing everyone has?" he said, and she took a moment to process this new statement, "Like, everyone has a sort of... uh, presence to them? Like, I see it, but I don't see it? It REALLY took some getting used to. I see little dots on people too, like, glowing through clothes, but not REALLY. They're there, but not REALLY there. Yet they are. Ah, I dunno, does any of that make sense, Hinata?"

She stared at him and thought. It sort of DID. She realized she'd been thinking too long, though, when he started looking crestfallen. She rapidly spoke up after that.

"Y-yes! Yes it does, actually!" she exclaimed, and his face reversed its course and lit up once more.

"Awesome! I knew you'd be able to help!" Naruto said, pumping a fist. Then he froze up, "...so what the heck did I just say?"

Hinata giggled. Ah, Naruto-kun; everything about him was just...

"Well, it seems like your eyes let you see chakra; it reminds me of when I use my byakugan. You even can see the tenketsu."

"Tenwhatsu?"

"Ah, tenketsu. Chakra points," she said with a smile, falling into the role of teacher far more naturally than she expected. He was so curious, so expecting. Her stomach was in knots, but still she pressed onward, "They are points on your body where chakra can be expelled from. They're key in ninjutsu, and also the flow of chakra in the body."

"Oh! Cool!" he replied with a grin, "You're good at this, Hinata! Iruka-sensei could learn a thing or to from you!"

"Th-thank you, Naruto-kun." She blushed at the compliment, and looked down. Today had to be a dream; it couldn't be this good. "So, can your eyes see any further than, um, normal?"

His face turned up in contemplation as he thought, tapping his chin. Finally he shook his head

"Nah, don't think so. Everything seems a bit brighter but I see just about as far as before."

Well, that was interesting. Hinata was no fool. Her school marks were actually quite good, at least academically. She had managed otherwise, and had done a fair job of not dragging her team down too much. She was improving, though! At least a little... she hoped. Regardless, on the subject at hand, she had begun to figure out Naruto's eyes, at least a little. They could see chakra, like the sharingan and byakugan could (though Hinata's knowledge of the sharingan was quite limited,) but could go farther and see the chakra points like the byakugan too, but didn't share the byakugan's extended range. On the other hand, they seemed to give access to strange powers.

"Naruto-kun, I think I can help."

Naruto could have exploded. Joy consumed his features as he rushed over to pull Hinata into a big hug. Her faced shot up into bright pink, but she forced it down. Oh, she had to. She couldn't talk, though, and simply let it run its course.

"Thank you so much, Hinata! You really are the best!"

When he finally let her go, she was smiling and... crying. His face changed in an instant to worry. What had he done, what was wrong?

"Hinata? W-what's wrong?"

"Nothing!" she said, smiling, "It's just... I'm happy I can help you."

He eyed her strangely, not sure how to take that little statement. It was so alien to him, like he feel he'd gotten from Iruka's words. It was his turn to be at a loss for words. She was crying, but he could tell they were happy tears even if he didn't even begin to understand why she was so happy. It... it didn't make sense to him.

"You... you've always been an inspiration to me, Naruto-kun," she said finally, wiping tears out of her eyes. She looked down, but was smiling. Where this was coming from she didn't know, but... she just had to tell him.

"You never give up, no matter what... I dream of being like that, and I think... watching you has helped be be better," she continued, and then smiled wide, "I... I know other people haven't noticed you, but I know they will. They'll all acknowledge you, I just know it!"

He stared at her like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time. This was the strangest feeling, one he just couldn't understand. Iruka had acknowledged him, believed in him. So had old man hokage, but this was... He had always thought of Hinata as being dark and weird, always shy and off to the side. He'd never given her much thought at all, really. She seemed nice at times, but still... just... weird. Now, though, he couldn't help but... feel something. He wasn't sure what.

His mind went back to that moment, on the bridge, when the boy Haku had said something right before he died. Naruto had understood those words, he'd understood Haku himself. If someone acknowledged you from the bottom of their heart, wouldn't that person become most precious to you? Naruto found himself stunned. He'd thought of Iruka, even Konohamaru somewhat, when Haku had said it. Now, though, this was...

"That..." he stammered out. She was fighting the urge to run away, but his gaze kept her in place. Finally, though, he gathered himself. He had nothing to say, he had no idea what he could say! So he just... didn't. He smiled.

"Let's train, Hinata," he managed, giving her a thumbs up. She smiled back. "We won't get totally amazing otherwise, yeah?"

* * *

><p>Kurenai nursed her drink, wondering how long her target would make her wait. Though not a compulsive drinker, the young jōnin had managed to down five glasses of shōchū, and had felt the sore temptation to just go out and be direct. Kurenai knew her target, though, and she knew he'd appreciate the sentiment she was putting into her little game. At least she hoped he would; shinobi were unpredictable, and even one as stereotyped as Kakashi Hatake could hold surprises. She debated leaving, worrying she wasn't getting into a sunk cost fallacy by choosing to stay.<p>

She ignored several attempts by various others to get her attention; this was a ninja bar, but that did little to stop folks buying her drinks. That she was drinking straight shōchū (though she'd a fondness for vodka as well) was a bit different than most. To her pleasure they weren't very pushy; if it wasn't respect as a fellow shinobi then it was the awareness that all of the people present were trained ninja, and the last thing you wanted was an annoyed one slipping something into your drink.

The black haired woman sighed. She enjoyed evening drinks, but this was becoming tedious. She ordered another round and used a small medical technique to burn off the alcohol faster. She enjoyed the drinking more than the drunk, and the hangover even less, thus learning to process alcohol had been a nice little impetus to dabble in the medical arts; her talent for genjutsu meant her control was good enough. She had considered introducing both arts to Hinata when she got a little more confident. Which, incidentally, was why she wanted to chat with Hatake.

"Damned scarecrow," she mumbled.

"You were looking for me?" Kakashi said, sleepy expression on his face. Kurenai nearly tumbled off her seat at the bar, and only narrowly avoided spilling her drink. He smiled behind his mask, and she couldn't help but return it. He was good, as good as they said. Truly an elite.

"You heard about that?" she said. He nodded nonchalantly.

"I did. Though, I suspect that was the point," he began, taking a seat at the bar. The bartender set a drink down in front of him without another word; he was a regular. "You made it known you were looking for me, so I'd hear and get curious and come find you to ask why. Clever."

"You're missing one part," Kurenai quipped, sipping at her drink, "I expected you'd know full well I wanted you to know and get curious, but that it wouldn't matter and you'd come anyway."

"My my, very clever," Kakashi said, and then took a drink through his mask. Kurenai noted the genjutsu with ease, contemplating if he was complimenting her by making it so obvious and realizing he'd not hide it from someone considered a genjutsu master, or if it was a subtle snub, or if it was nothing at all. For his part, Kakashi seemed unperturbed by her consternation, but not amused. He simply Was, as if none of it really mattered. She now really understood Might Guy's invective against his 'cool hipness.'

"So, you were looking for me?"

Kurenai smiled. Right to the point.

"I heard there were some interesting happenings with your students on your last mission."

"News travels fast. Zabuza Momochi was a dangerous foe, but my students did well," he said, and then appraised her. He smiled softly. "That's not what you mean, though."

He took another drink. Kurenai could smell it. Vodka and Grapefruit juice. A greyhound. How fitting. She said nothing, letting him take his time with it.

"I think it may be a first. Sasuke developed his Sharingan and Naruto manifested something not seen in centuries. Two kekkai genkai on one team, unlocked on the same mission, to say nothing of them both being dōjutsu," he continued, turning back to Kurenai at the end. "So, is Naruto pestering your student about her byakugan?"

"Not quite, it was actually the pink-haired girl who set it up. I wanted to bring it up as I think you'd appreciate it."

"Sakura set them up?"

Kurenai nodded, then chuckled.

"She's head over heels for the Uchiha boy, yes? Far as I can tell, she noticed Hinata's... affections for Naruto and decided to use them. Naruto was trying to figure out his new eyes, Hinata has a habit of not really standing up for herself, and I've no idea what she sees in the boy, but Naruto does seem to make her more confident. Sakura wanted Naruto out of her hair so she could be around Sasuke." Kurenai let the words hang as she took another sip of her drink, then continued. "It's actually quite clever, if juvenile. She's got promise."

"I worry about her the most, honestly," Kakashi said candidly. Kurenai was surprised. "Her chakra control is excellent and her mental skills are amazing, but she's falling behind the boys. She's got less aggression, less confidence. I worry that Naruto's new... abilities might set this back father."

"Why are you telling me?" Kurenai asked, perhaps a bit confused. She'd wanted to get a better handle on Naruto, and let Kakashi know about Sakura's little scheme. It could have a greater impact on his team than hers, after all. Kakashi smiled lazily.

"Because I want your help," he said simply, "Sakura could learn a few things from you. Your talent for genjutsu proceeds you, after all. She's got the chakra control for it, I think she'd a good fit."

"You want me to help train your student?"

"Yes. And I think I could give your Inuzuka boy a few tips too. I've worked with Inuzuka before, and have ninken of my own."

She thought for awhile, about what he was offering and saying. This was bigger than it seemed; Kakashi was hardly known for seeking out help, even if he was as loyal to his comrades as they came. Had the mission spooked him that much? Or was it something more? She still was curious about his blond charge as well.

"What about Naruto?"

"What about him?"

She sighed. Ah, Kakashi.

"Should I be worried. About Hinata and him training together?"

"Hmm... probably," he said with a smile, "But I suspect it'll be good for them both. People underestimate Naruto, but he's far more than they give him credit for."

* * *

><p>Danzō was mostly stoic as he listened the reports. The elderly patriarch of the Shimura clan tapped his fingers across his cane, a tic he allowed himself only because he knew he could eliminate it if he wanted, or needed, to. Which was, of course, how he treated everything in his life, when it came to the furtherance of the Leaf. Plans were made and abandoned at whim, alliances too. His arrangement with Hanzō the Salamander ended when it became clear the long term goals of acquiring the Rinnegan from that boy were not going to work. Likewise, his dalliances with Orochimaru came to an end when the old snake became too much of a wild card.<p>

He had hoped that in leaking the location of the snake's secret laboratories and ghastly, if useful, experiments to the hopelessly naïve Hiruzen might shake the old man up and eliminate a possible threat to both his organization and, more importantly, to Konohagakure on the whole. Unfortunately, Danzō had underestimated the sheer and utter lack of spine that the Third Hokage could muster, and instead Orochimaru fled. At least Danzō had been able to scrounge some of the old snake's notes, though not enough in his opinion. It was a mystery how many orphans he'd used in his schemes. Several he'd found and recruited, but many were simply never uncovered. Who knew how many shinobi were still in the village that were products of his experiments that just never took off, or secretly did?

The elderly man eyed his subordinates closely. Despite their nondescript robes and masks, he knew each member of Root by name, even if he'd rarely consider using them unless absolutely necessary. Fū Yamanaka was a prodigy, which is why he'd gone to lengths to poach him right from under Hiruzen's nose, much like he had with the equally talented Aburame, Torune. Nominally speaking, Root did not exist, of course, but Danzō knew that Hiruzen knew what he was still doing.

It was a game. Hiruzen was trying to keep a leash on Danzō, not realizing it was really he who was tied up.

The candles in the dark room flickered, casting awkward shadows.

"The reports are confirmed from multiple sources," Fū continued, kneeling in front of the seated Shimura, "Naruto Uzumaki has manifested the Rinnegan, and demonstrated some level of mastery with it. This is in addition to information that he may have tapped into the power of the Kyūbi no Kitsune, and is thus maturing as a jinchūriki."

Danzō fought the smile. Despite his dislike of the man having inherited the teachings of the foolish Hiruzen through his perverted pupil, Danzō was still sad to have seen the Fourth Hokage die. He was a powerful asset to the village, one of the strongest shinobi ever to exist. A true prodigy. His legacy? Less so. As a jinchūriki, he was a failure. As a shinobi, he was a failure. Or so it had seemed, these reports were more promising. He'd awoken a very strange power that Danzō had thought lost. For the Rinnegan not only to appear, but appear in the hands of a shinobi of the Leaf was a blessing.

Yet...

"This presents an conundrum," he thought aloud, not really directed at his underlings but rather to himself. "On one hand, the jinchūriki is becoming the weapon it's supposed to be. However, it manifesting the rinnegan brings up both questions and problems; I cannot extract those eyes without endangering the host, and it would cause far too much attention."

He tapped his cane against the ground, and looked down at his slung arm. He had worried the Kyūbi's bearer would be useless, and had taken precautions. Hiruzen never would have let him train the boy, of course, but that did not mean that Danzō wasn't preparing for the chance the seal may fail due to the boy's ineptitude, or something of the sort. It was unlikely, of course; once more, though he had no love lost for the man's ideals, the elderly shinobi had no illusions about the fourth's talent with fūinjutsu.

Yet it would not be Danzō who dropped the ball should a threat arise in the form of a nine-tailed monster.

Now, though, his augmentations provided a certain amount of leverage over the Uzumaki. Kotoamatsukami would take some time to recharge, even with the cells of the First Hokage integrated into his arm. However, there were other, subtler means of influencing the boy. With any luck, he might be guided down a proper path, a true tool for the village. The boy desired to be hokage, and with a power like his it could be reality. Danzō was old. He needed to leave behind a legacy, to preserve the Leaf.

The plans raced through his mind. How perfect it would be. Legacy of the Fourth, container of the Kyūbi no Kitsune, bearer of the Rinnegan. Truly, the Uzumaki could become the greatest asset the village had ever had. He could surpass Hashirama himself.

Yes...

He tapped his cane again.

"Gather a team of operatives," he said, this time actually directed at the Yamanaka, "Watch the boy, covertly. Report everything. Dismissed."

* * *

><p>Naruto lifted the off-white color top he'd bought up into the light and sighed; he really shouldn't have let it sit out in the dirt all day. He'd gotten so caught up in training that he hadn't even realized it. Hinata and him had gone all day long, practicing various things. Mostly she'd ran him through exercises, chakra control ones that he now could do simply because he could actually see chakra and the tenketsu. She had said they were clan practices, though she hadn't mentioned these were taught at the youngest age possible.<p>

It hadn't really mattered. She'd been completely blown away by just how much chakra he had, and had said as much. Naruto grinned at that, suppressing the darker thoughts about just where that chakra came from. This had also led to embarrassment when he was rather, uh, unskilled at controlling it all. That's where she got the idea. For a member of the Hyūga clan, it just came naturally to control your chakra, a side effect of seeing it so much. It was something of a long running debate in the clan about if the Gentle Fist had come first, giving them great chakra control, or their great chakra control had led to the development of the Gentle Fist.

Naruto sighed again and then chucked the top into a pile with the rest of the soiled clothes. The sun was well past setting, and Hinata had finally mentioned she needed to get home. Naruto had pouted, which had caused her to giggle slightly, and that made him happy. She was nice, and he really liked it. Her talk about recognizing him and all had... well, that had been something, but even more she always was so gentle about things. She corrected him but never hit him (except when they were sparring, of course!) and laughed at his antics. He found himself toning them down a bit, but also tailoring them as he learned more about her. It was nice to hear her laugh.

He had been bummed when she had to go, and thus he'd extracted a promise to train more soon. She had been happy to say yes to that. He also promised to take her out for ramen, a fact that had set her face blazing. Naruto had thought about that a bit after she'd left, and realized two things. One, she was actually pretty cute. Two, she was blushing at him and that made him feel very strange. He had seen Sakura get that way around Sasuke (tch...) but had never imagined someone doing it to him. Yet, sure enough, there it was.

Naruto had no idea how to process that. He took the katana out of its sheath and checked the blade. Hinata had told him to do that. Well, she'd mentioned it; that was something Naruto had noticed. Hinata never told him to do anything. She just mentioned things, suggested them. And they were good ideas, too. He didn't even realize he was doing it until after he'd begun, and strangely not once did he feel obligated to goof off or get silly. Sure, he cracked jokes but... the drive to be contrary wasn't there.

The blade seemed undamaged, even after his rough handling. He realized, of course, that he had no idea how to use a blade and was unlikely to learn any time soon. Still, it looked cool! He sheathed it and tucked it into a closet, making a note to maybe learn how to use it some time when not focused on figured out his kickass new eyes.

Apparently, though, that was going pretty good. Like, he'd already figured out some of the power, what with pushing and pulling and, apparently, firing laser beams from his hands (though he'd found that harder to replicate.) He also had those black rods and blades. Those were cool, and he realized (after demonstrating to Hinata) that he could, like, 'feel' them too. From what she said, they were strange because they reminded her of him. The feel was the same she'd said. Then blushed.

So much blushing. Now he was blushing too. Why was he blushing?

He flopped down onto his bed, exhausted but happy. He stared at his hand, and he smiled. He could see the points on his hand now, and the flow of chakra when he focused. She'd shown him leaf exercises, and also little games, childish things the Hyūga were taught to start them early, similar to the string games shinobi's showed kids to get them flexible and ready for hand seals later in life. She was red as a tomato when she showed him the hand-holding game, where the goal was to form messages on a persons palm by writing characters with your chakra.

Naruto let his hand fall to his side. Her fighting style was so cool too! It had taken awhile to explain, and she was reluctant to demonstrate at first, but when he'd finally coaxed her into it it was simply amazing. He could only imagine what it looked like without his new eyes, but with, watching the chakra flow and burst, precisely targeted into flares with each strike or sweep... it was amazing. He wanted to see her in action some time, and perhaps feeding on his excitement she promised she'd try her best to show him how to do it too.

After some time, Naruto finally began to fade into a restful sleep. His dreams were simple, but warm and inviting, tinted with shades of lavender.

The sun had long set over Konohagakure, yet Training Ground 3 was lit up by intermittent flashes of bright, hot light. The crackling of smoldering flames filled the air, and a haze of smoke hung above the training field. In places where there once had been wood, sand, and grass there was now little more than charcoal and glass. Small fires burned in places, providing sparse light between the flashes.

Sasuke was panting heavily, the edge of the short tantō he held glowing red-hot. His hands were wrapped in cloth bandages, while the left hand, the one holding the blade, was wrapped clean up to the elbow. They were holding a foul-smelling poultice in place, and it stung at his nostrils. Still, it was better than the sting of slightly charred flesh; his attempts to utilize chakra flow, laid out in several scrolls he scrounged from Uchiha clan vaults, had gone both well and poorly. He'd gotten cocky, and it had cost him, even he could admit that. Still, it could have been worse.

Without Sakura, he'd likely have never attempted it in the first place, given her talent at chakra control. Though often annoying, and still too clingy, Naruto's sudden gift made him leery; there was no way he was falling behind that idiot, no way in hell! He knew full well Sakura was trying to pawn him off on the Hyūga, and even approved of the covertness of the plan, even if it was yet another attempt just to get closer to him. He had allowed it, though; she'd proven at least useful on the mission to the Land of Waves.

As long as she was useful, he told himself. She could stay as long as she was useful. His nose twitched again at the scent of the poultice, and he glanced over to his erstwhile companion. The pink-haired girl was curled up under a tree, piles of scrolls scattered around her. The scrolls were more of the ones Sasuke had dug up, ones he had little use for but were rather perfect for her. They gave her a purpose on the team too. Sensory techniques, medical texts. She had torn through them, proving that she really was one of the most book-smart of their class.

Sasuke watched her for a moment, her chest rising lightly. She'd formed an impromptu blanket out of scrolls. Even from this distance his sharingan picked out that she'd apparently taken a liking to the ones about sensory techniques, and feeling chakra. Her control was good, too. Good. He glanced down at the tantō and noticed it had cooled significantly, enough to sheath. He stored it as he approached her.

He had kept the more combat oriented scrolls for himself. She didn't have the chakra to perform most elemental techniques anyway. The scrolls of chakra flow and the Uchiha-style kenjutsu were fascinating though. When he was a young boy, Sasuke remembered watching Shisui integrate them into a fluid fighting style. The Uchiha-style: Halo Dance had been a big part of that, a leaping strike that unleashed a wave of blazing fire at a target. Sasuke grumbled at how he had only just barely be able to properly get the chakra to flow, and how it had backfired several times. Sakura's knowledge of the local herbs, though, had eased up that. He had seen it in her face, too, that she wanted to suggest they should stop.

But she didn't, and so Sasuke didn't have to dismiss her for it. He found himself feeling appreciative for her help, and her company. They'd been out here for hours. The Uchiha did not begrudge her for falling asleep.

The training ground was still smoldering. It cast strange shadows across her face.

He crouched next to her, unsure why he was watching her so closely. She seemed peaceful, though. Dreaming, maybe? He envied that. The thought was strange to him, that he'd be envying Sakura. This, though? Peaceful sleep, pleased expression on her face? She was happy. She'd been happy all day yesterday when he'd told her to come along, and happy all today when they trained too, even when wrapping his wounds. She'd fallen asleep happy, and she'd wake up happy. And in some small part of him, he was happy she was happy, and he didn't know why.

Sasuke collected up the scrolls gently and rolled them, piling them into a backpack. She moved in her sleep and murmured something unintelligible when he lifted them away. He tossed the bag over one shoulder and then, as gently as he could, lifted her up. She was heavier than he expected; he knew she'd be crestfallen if she heard him say as much, though. The thought brought a strange grin to his face.

He pushed off. The least he could do was deliver her home. It was no good to let her sleep out here. His arms burned from the strain, but he didn't mind it. It was fine.

Everything was fine.

Naruto slept. Inside him, though, a monster schemed. The Kyūbi no Kitsune, whose name was a secret to all, waited in the dark, damp confines of his infernal fleshy prison. He seethed with malicious purpose, gleaning what he could from the small amount of information he was privy to. The seal had weakened, if only slightly, when the boy's anger had peaked on the bridge over the brooding Uchiha. It was not freedom for the Kyūbi, not really; even with his will leaking through, it was not truly him in control, not at that state. Yet the Kyūbi knew full well that with enough time, and enough pressure, the seal would break.

However, there were other complications. The Kyūbi was not given full access to the memories or knowledge of his host, so the methods in which the fool he was contained within had managed to awaken the power of that old man were unknown to him. That a little fool like his jailor would possess the same eyes as Rikudō Sennin-sama was inconceivable. Now he could feel the old man; Naruto's body was producing the same chakra now, and it was getting stronger.

The Kyūbi sat very, very still. He had become proficient at this, accepting his lot, for now. When he'd first been jailed he had been nearly a mad beast, and little more. He'd raged at his cage, yet the seal was strongest then. He knew it was weakening with time, and so he had consigned himself to waiting. Now, though, new thoughts entered his head. He remembered the words of the old man, what had been said to all the tailed beasts.

He did not want to lose his name, even if no one knew it. It was his name, HIS. The other beasts lacked the proper respect, to say nothing of the humans. To return to them? He loathed the very thought of it. Naruto, though, and his eyes... that presented something, a potentiality that he had not even dreamed of before. Subtly, he began to push his chakra outwards, straining the seal ever so slightly. The seal would purify it, he knew, and his will would not be able to escape without the boy's own volatile emotions as a conduit.

However, the boy's chakra was changing already. He could flood it, mature the eyes. And, when the time came, as it surely would, drag the boy into the darkness. Then the Kyūbi no Kitsune would be free, bearing the eyes of the great sage, and ready to fulfill the prophecy the sage had made... on the Kyūbi's terms. Never again would he be subject to the ocular prowess of the damned Uchiha, and never again would the world dare to bind him. He would be as a god.

And then the world would know true power.

* * *

><p><em>Author Note:<br>_Been working on this for awhile, rather like how its turning out. Lot of fluff and dev. Going to accelerate through the Chūnin Exams, skipping over some of the less important bits to focus on bigger changes. Expect Kurama, Danzō, and several others to start unknowingly be playing against each other to influence the newest 'sage.'

If you have questions, feel free to ask. I love engaging with folks.


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